Backyard scramble as Logan targets backyard developers with $22k granny flat fee
Dozens of mum-and-dad developers are scrambling to build granny flats in their backyards before a March deadline when a southeast council will whack them with hefty $20,000-plus infrastructure charges.
Logan
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Dozens of mum-and-dad developers are scrambling to build granny flats in their backyards before a March deadline when a southeast council will whack them with hefty $20,000-plus infrastructure charges.
Logan City Council will slap on infrastructure fees of up to $31,000 on March 6 for those building a secondary dwelling or granny flat on their block of land.
Historically, Logan has not charged a homeowner infrastructure fees for building a secondary dwelling on the same block.
Logan refused to respond to questions about the new charges.
But a fact sheet on its website said the fees were necessary after the state government changed planning laws in September allowing homeowners to rent out secondary dwellings, in a bid to stem the state’s housing crisis.
Town planner Alex Steffan said Logan council was “double dipping” by whacking homeowners with the $22,000 fees for infrastructure they had already paid for.
He said the move followed the council revealing its infrastructure budget had blown out in the last financial year.
Logan has a $7 million infrastructure budget deficit but figures released recently showed the council was predicting an excess of $58 million in its infrastructure kitty within five years.
Mr Steffan said the hefty granny flat fee would also adversely affect housing projects in the southeast, where the state government was struggling to fix a housing shortage crisis.
“This is the only council I know of that will have this charge and, effectively, it means Logan will be taxing granny flat builders between $22,000 and $31,000 to do an extension to their own house,” Mr Steffan said.
“This is not helping the state’s housing crisis and is actually making rentals more unaffordable as there will be less incentive for people to build granny flats to rent.
“I have lots of clients scrambling to get building approvals in place before the deadline to avoid the new charges.
“Some clients have quickly ditched pursuing approvals for auxiliary units, which have an infrastructure cost of $16,000 and switched to building granny flats which will remain free of infrastructure charges until the March deadline.
“Instead of just passing the cost on to the public, Logan should really be reviewing its expenditure and wastage to get those costs down.
“Every other council seems to be able to build infrastructure without introducing this granny flat fee.”
The council decided on the controversial move in December after more than five years sparring with the state government over the additional fees, and the council approving hundreds of small-lot developments across the city.
In 2017, the council voted to slug developers of rentable granny flats infrastructure charges of $23,000.
But the state government swooped and in 2018 forced the council to wind parts of the policy, which was designed to target developers after residents complained about the lack of parking and pressure on sewers due to massive population density increases.
Logan council website said it was necessary to introduce the same level of infrastructure charges for secondary dwellings (granny flats) as auxiliary units after the new state laws eliminated key differences between the two.
The council will also jack up, by 15 per cent, its infrastructure charges for auxiliary units, which are dwellings on the same block with the same owner.
The current auxiliary unit infrastructure charge in Logan is $16,434, which is set at 75 per cent of the $21,912 rate for a two-bedroom dual occupancy dwelling.
Dozens of mum-and-dad developers are scrambling to build granny flats in their back yards before a March deadline when a southeast council will whack them with hefty $20,000-plus infrastructure charges.
Logan City Council will slap on infrastructure fees of up to $31,000 on March 6 for those building a secondary dwelling or granny flat on their block of land.
Historically, Logan has not charged a homeowner infrastructure fees for building a secondary dwelling on the same block.
Logan refused to respond to questions about the new charges.
But a fact sheet on its website said the fees were necessary after the state government changed planning laws in September allowing homeowners to rent out secondary dwellings, in a bid to stem the state’s housing crisis.
Town planner Alex Steffan said Logan council was “double dipping” by whacking homeowners with the $22,000 fees for infrastructure they had already paid for.
He said the move followed the council revealing its infrastructure budget had blown out in the last financial year.
Logan has a $7 million infrastructure budget deficit but figures released recently showed the council was predicting an excess $58 million in its infrastructure kitty within five years.
Mr Steffan said the hefty granny flat fee would also adversely affect housing projects in the southeast, where the state government was struggling to fix a housing shortage crisis.
“This is the only council I know of that will have this charge and, effectively, it means Logan will be taxing granny flat builders between $22,000 and $31,000 to do an extension to their own house,” Mr Steffan said.
“This is not helping the state’s housing crisis and is actually making rentals more unaffordable as there will be less incentive for people to build granny flats to rent.
“I have lots of clients scrambling to get building approvals in place before the deadline to avoid the new charges.
“Some clients have quickly ditched pursing approvals for auxiliary units, which have an infrastructure cost of $16,000 and switched to building granny flats which will remain free of infrastructure charges until the March deadline.
“Instead of just passing the cost on to the public, Logan should really be reviewing its expenditure and wastage to get those costs down.
“Every other council seems to be able to build infrastructure without introducing this granny flat fee.”
Logan ratepayers Association president Rod Shaw said the new tax was because of overspending in the council’s infrastructure budget.
“It’s the old story — the council stuffs up the budget and decides to tax its way out by slugging the long-suffering taxpayer,” he said.
“While this is not targeting ratepayers directly, the effect is still the same with a section of the community burdened with a tax imposed by a seemingly incompetent council.”
The council decided on the controversial move in December after more than five years sparring with the state government over the additional fees, and the council approving hundreds of small-lot developments across the city.
In 2017, the council voted to slug developers of rentable granny flats infrastructure charges of $23,000.
But the state government swooped and in 2018 forced the council to wind parts of the policy, which was designed to target developers after residents complained about the lack of parking and pressure on sewers due to massive population density increases.
Logan council website said it was necessary to introduce the same level of infrastructure charges for secondary dwellings (granny flats) as auxiliary units after the new state laws eliminated key differences between the two.
The council will also jack up, by 15 per cent, its infrastructure charges for auxiliary units, which are dwellings on the same block with the same owner.
The current auxiliary unit infrastructure charge in Logan is $16,434, which is set at 75 per cent of the $21,912 rate for a two-bedroom dual occupancy dwelling.
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